Private Kelp Farming has tremendous potential and we want to help you get in. We can help you identify viable kelp farming plots along the California coast to lease. We've combined data from satellite imaging, demographic, geographical, and biological data from public sources to pinpoint the choice locations and avoid potential farming hurdles.
Start Exploring!We are a team of UC Berkeley Masters of Information and Data Science (MIDS) students who believe in Big Kelp.
Rob the cartographer
Clay the molder of data
Vincenzo the astronomer with an eye in the sky
3D vertical farms are a profitable form of aquaculture that consist of kelp, seaweed, and shellfish grown at varying levels of the water column. They have been called farms of the future because they are low impact, no input (no freshwater, no feed, no fertilizer) and high yield, producing highly nutritious seaweeds without using any arable land. Everything is grown off of buoys and ropes hovering above the water. Kelp farms are specifically attractive because they act as powerful carbon sinks and fight ocean acidification via shellfish + kelp forests that together filter nitrogen and phosphorus from the ocean using naturally occurring ocean currents.
From a culinary standpoint, many chefs are experimenting with cooking with kelp in food and drinks. It's highly popular in Asian countries, slowly seeping into mainstream American cuisine. It can also be used as animal feed with added benefits of enhanced immunity, meat quality, and volume. Commercially, kelp can be used as quality ingredients for health and beauty products. Additional consideration for biofuel use to decrease fossil fuels by 1.5% used to run vehicles. Kelp farms are specifically attractive because they act as powerful carbon sinks and fight ocean acidification via shellfish + kelp forests that together filter nitrogen and phosphorus from the ocean using naturally occurring ocean currents. Seaweed can sequester 20x more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than on-land forests.
In order to start a kelp farm, one must have a place to farm kelp. This is done by applying for a site lease form the Department of Fish & Wildlife. During this application process DFW will bring in all potentially affected parties such as the California Coastal Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to assess potential impacts. Additionally, private entities might also become involved such as land and homeowners. All parties involved will look at the potential ecological, environamental, and human issues that a kelp site might create. Some examples of these are intereference with ports and marinas, oil platforms, critical species habitats, and marine protected areas.
In addition, the site must be viable for kelp growth.
From the Ocean Approved Manual:
